The Linux Position

Most companies—especially those in the technology world—are not interested in simple answers to simple questions.

Competitive (necessary for the war and sports
stories that write themselves)

the fastest-growing OS outside of NT

a worthy contender

a juggernaut

a movement

the definitive answer to the small business needs
for Internet connectivity, a web server and e-mail services

Flawed (always a good character trait)

complicated

a good teacher of science-oriented college
students, but a rotten teacher for just about everyone else

overkill for most home applications

simply too hard to use for the average user

entrenched in a grass-roots development
model

Believe me, you can't buy PR this good. Especially since the
default story is about a fight between this Finnish dude and a
Schwarzenegger character and it isn't an act. Here's a look at six
different “versus” constructions:

Linux vs. Microsoft: 57

Microsoft vs. Linux: 110

Linux vs. NT: 512

Linux vs. (Windows, Cisco, BeOS...) 1968

Microsoft vs. (DOJ, Justice, Netware...)
2721

A big part of positioning is unconscious, yet revealed by who
you list first. Is it Yankees vs. Dodgers or Dodgers vs. Yankees?
We tend to list favorites first. So if I had to call a play-by-play
on the games here, I'd say Microsoft appears to be the favorite in
the company game, while Linux is the favorite in the OS game
(which, fortunately, is the one that truly matters).

Even when editors don't use the “versus” construction, they
still apply a rule I obtained recently from a Wall Street
Journal reporter: “These days you can't write about
Microsoft without bringing up Linux.” It's pro
forma. Even if they know nothing about Linux, they still
cast its character.

And what about Microsoft, really? Does this corporate
Terminator truly consider Linux to be a competitor? “This much is
clear to them, right to the top of the company.” One
cross-platform developer told me this morning, “They can't win the
server war. There's no way they can lock it down like they did with
the desktop. Linux is now the server of choice. They know they have
to cope with that, and they're really not sure how to do
it.”

Let's hope they start figuring out how. Microsoft is a
problem we don't want to lose.